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STORM SIGNALS

From Students:

Student Activity

Build your own RadioJove kit

The RadioJove website provides an order form and instructions for this activity.

Caution: Requires assembly of a circuit board, experienced guidance is recommended.

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When a solar flare or coronal mass ejection erupts, hot, charged particles are accelerated away from the Sun. When this happens, a radio signal is emitted that reaches Earth in a little over 8 minutes. You can detect these signals with a simple antenna, a RadioJove kit, a speaker and a computer. The speaker allows you to hear the radio emission. When little is happening on the Sun, you will hear a quiet hiss. When an emission from a solar storm reaches Earth, the hiss will gradually increase in volume and then slowly decrease. This will take from several seconds to a couple of minutes. The computer and software will allow you to see the increase and decrease in intensity of the radio signal with a graph like the one below when a solar storm has occurred.

Graph of radio waves from the Radio Jove kit.
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